Wednesday, December 31, 2008

1. Step into the bathroom. Close the door.2. Make or receive a phone call.3. Use a loud appliance, such as a vacuum, hair-dryer, or blender.4. Read.5. Close your eyes for longer than a blink.(If these all fail, try to lay down with your baby to put them to sleep. Just as you are about to get up and leave the finally sleeping baby, someone will call out "Mooommmm??!!!")

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

While it's true that dairy farmers work 365 days a year; Thanksgiving, Christmas, birthdays and anniversaries...No vacations, no days off...The cows still need to be milked whether you are sick or your wife's having a baby...40 degrees below zero, or 95 above...At least he doesn't have to drive to work???

OH-----and I LOVE my brother who gave me his old digital camera. Thanks Jeremy!!!

Friday, December 26, 2008

It's true: my kids think I'm SuperMom.That's gotta be it.Why else would they holler from the other end of the house "who's is this?" or "Mom, where does this go?" or "what should I do with this?"I never know what "this" is.This very morning, my 8 year old daughter called to me from downstairs. She was cleaning the entry where there was a bag we brought home from Grandma's. She called out, "Are these ours?" (wondering if we had inadvertently brought home something that belonged to someone else).It was at this point that I had to confess.My reply: "Well, since I do not possess telepathic powers, nor do I have X-ray vision, I cannot see what it is to which you are referring."I hope none of the sarcasm dripped onto the baby I was feeding...Maybe I should have titled this post"My kids thought I was SuperMom."

Monday, December 22, 2008

We had this for supper the other night. It is SO good.I'll give you the recipe as it was in the cookbook, and then I'll tell you how I modified it.(For future reference, "supper" is our evening meal and "dinner" is our noon meal. I grew up on a farm and married a farmer, so that's just how it is. I also call this a "hotdish" because I live in Minnesota. Others may call it a "casserole", but a hotdish by any other name is still a hotdish...)

Prepare wild rice mix according to package directions. Add all remaining ingredients and bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes.

How easy is that???? And cheap, too! No weird things that my kids won't eat, either.I doubled the rice and halved the chicken (of course) and it was enough to feed the 8 of us at the table, with leftovers afterward.I'm thinking that this would make a good take-along dish for Christmas, too.Let me know if you try it and like it!

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Where did that childlike wonder go? That excitement that makes you wake up each day and announce how many days are left until Christmas...I can't even say that it is relegated only to childhood; I used to do that until about five years ago. I was married and had four kids five years ago--so it can't just be for childhood.

I keep hearing my kids announce the days left, and I look at calendar and think "it can't be only three days left 'till Christmas Eve and four days left 'till Christmas Day. I need more time..." Time for what, I don't know, because I'm done with the shopping and wrapping.

Why can't I share the excitement my kids have?

Sometimes being an adult can be a real downer...sort of like this post.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

So, (because here in Minnesota, we begin every sentence with "so") I wonder why when my Little Miss Ruby has a stinky diaper it's cute, but not when Elijah does?(I realize that sentence has terrible grammar, but I don't care this morning. It's Saturday, and we don't do school on Saturday.)

When Ruby needs a diaper change, I say in my cutesie little reserved-for-baby voice, "Ruby...are you a stinky girl?? Are you?? You've got stinky pants, Baby Roo!" etc. etc. All smiles and tickles on our way to the changing table. She smiles back and gurgles and talks.

But when Elijah needs attention in the diaper department, it's more like "oh, Elijah...again? Let's go..."

Maybe because little baby diapers don't really stink that bad? And toddler diapers are more of the clear-the-room-everyone-pretend-they-don't-smell-it-until-Mom-can-change-him variety? I think so.

Just something for me to think on...

(I also wonder why I use dots of elipses so much. I think I do it because I rarely get a chance to finish a complete thought before someone needs me {read: interrupts me}. It leaves room to return to the train of thought. If I can remember where I left off... Something else for me to think on...)

Thursday, December 18, 2008

I L-O-V-E my washing machine and dishwasher. I mean it. I would leap over tall buildings...I would walk through fire...I would, well-- I don't know what else could describe my adoration.

They are my friends in these here trenches. My kids and I are home all the time--we use a lot of dishes and wear a lot of clothes. For years, I had no dishwasher. Oh how I longed for one!! (I know many women do not have one--I'm sorry, you cannot have mine. I feel for ya, but sorry, no. I will pray for you.)

I think I would rather have my refrigerator go out than my washer! If I miss a day of washing, I am seriously behind. I cannot imagine what having a "wash day" would be like. At least if your fridge goes out, you can just keep the door closed and things will probably be ok for awhile. And hey, when it's like 8 below zero outside, food can't exactly go bad...

You may have thought me weird after reading my ironing post. But wait folks: it just keeps getting better: I like doing laundry.That's right, I enjoy laundry.I like putting dirty things in a machine that come out clean!I like folding all the things into neat piles...I'm kind of a control freak.Order speaks to me.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Is it bad if you pull your iron out (from the top shelf of the linen closet where your were pretty sure you had put it last time) and your kids say "Mom, what is that?"

Is it even worse that if something clean is really wrinkly, I just wash and dry it again and make sure I hang it up right away??

Now you know the true me. I don't iron. Please don't judge me...

I pulled it out today to iron on Andrew's badge for AWANA. He and Linnea go with their very good friend Anthony, who's mom happens to be my very good friend Angie who gives them a ride!They LOVE it!! (AWANA stands for Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed.)

Here is a picture of Andrew with his brand new very own Bible and his very fancy Sparks vest.He is very good at memorizing Scripture. He and Linnea help and encourage each other.

Monday, December 15, 2008

So, just now as the kids and I were finishing up supper, Andrew (6) says, "Mom, how old will you be when I am 34?""58!!!" I replied, after doing some quick math.To which he responded, "if you even live that long...........would you have a cane?"

Our family LOVES to read!Right now, Nathaniel is reading a biography of John Williams--missionary to Polynesian Islands. Isaiah is reading End of the Drive--a Louis L'Amour novel. Our boys (and me, too!) LOVE his books!Isaiah is also reading White Fang by Jack London.Linnea is reading Mandie and the Medicine Man, by Lois Gladys Leppard. This is a delightful series that I read when I was a child.I am reading a biography of George Mueller.For our read aloud time, we are reading Old Yeller--a classic!!For some time, I was feeling so guilty because it seemed I was never able to find the time to read out loud to the kids. There are SO many good books--I want our kids to be immersed in good literature!! But, how to find the time around school and chores??Then, a friend suggested this and now we do it. It is WONDERFUL!!I read to them while they fold the laundry.Yes, they fold all the laundry.I do "mom and dad's pile" and the towels (I just couldn't let that one go. I gotta have them folded the right way...)We take all the baskets of clean laundry and I read while they throw them into their separate "heaps".Each kid folds their own pile and is assigned a little person's pile, too. (The three- and two-year -olds can't fold really well. But, they do like to put away their own if I let them!)They are all quiet while I read, and their hands are busy doing something productive. It is a total win-win in our house!We can usually get in at least two chapters while they fold. Work gets done and no guilt for me about not reading!I am always interested in good books--leave a comment and let me know what you like to read!

Sunday, December 14, 2008

So, I decided to start blogging!! It seems that it will be a form of journaling for me...Today there is a MAJOR blizzard going on in our area, so we are homebound.Church was canceled, and with that, the kids' Christmas program for Sunday School.We made a gingerbread house yesterday as well as some sugar cookies to decorate, so I don't have anything very "fun" to occupy the troops with today.(Lest you think me quite Betty Crocker, the gingerbread house was from a box we bought at Target, and the sugar cookies were packaged from the grocery store--we just used some cookie cutters, baked them, and then I'm letting the kids decorate as they go.)

Chores took especially long today with all the snow and wind and cold---the boys and Dennis were quite bundled against the elements as they went about their duties!!I always feel a little guilty all snug and warm in the house--but it doesn't last long. The guilt, I mean.

So, right now most of the kids are reading, Dennis is watching football on TV, and I am doing laundry. But hey--when am I NOT doing laundry?? The diapers are sloshing about in the machine as I type. Gotta love those cloth diapers!!

Well--that's about it for my very first post. Hopefully, the ones to come will be more entertaining than this one!

About Me

I am a wife and mother, seeking to do that which the Lord requires of me: to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with my God.
Our children are Nathaniel (20), Isaiah (18), Linnea (16), Andrew (13), Christopher (11), Elijah (8), Ruby (8), Ivy (6), Elizabeth (4) Abram (3) Cecelia (2), and Silas (7 months). We believe that the Lord is the Author of life and that He alone opens and closes the womb. We are happy to welcome more children! My husband is a dairy farmer and I stay at home to care for him, the children, and this house in which we live.